Halo Headlines: Angels not among teams to make offer to Tanaka, Frieri and Salas avoid arbitration, Freese and Jepsen do not

The January 20th, 2014 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including Angels not among teams to make offer to Tanaka, Frieri and Salas avoid arbitration, Freese and Jepsen do not and much more…

The Story: Five teams have made formal offers to Masahiro Tanaka, and the Angels are not one of them.

The Monkey Says: There has been a lot of misinformation on Tanaka this month, so it is possible the Angels did make an offer or are going to make an offer, but it seems highly unlikely given their public denials of even meeting with him. It is a safe bet to say that they simply decided he was too expensive.

The Story: The Angels avoided arbitration with Ernesto Frieri and Fernando Salas, but David Freese and Kevin Jepsen did not.

The Monkey Says: Frieri will make $3.8 million while Salas will earn $870,000. Both are above the estimates of what they would settle for, but not by huge margins. Salas' salary would seem to further indicate the team's belief in him, making it more likely he will be on the Opening Day roster. Freese and Jepsen both ended up filing, so those remain open cases. They could both still settle before their trial dates. Jepsen and the Angels are $325,000 apart, so a settlement is highly likely. However, the gap with Freese is $1.9 million. His case could be a bit complicated, but a settlement still is more likely than a trial.

The Story: Teams are reluctant to commit to even a four-year deal with Matt Garza due to health concerns.

The Monkey Says: That could include the Angels as they were reportedly on the verge of a deal with him at the Winter Meetings only to have one side walk away. They could well re-visit that once the Tanaka signing happens, but if the Halos have concerns over his health, it is doubtful their stance on contract length will change much.

The Story: Sean Burnett still won't be throwing off a mound by the time pitchers report to Spring Training.

The Monkey Says: If all goes well, he should be having bullpen sessions by the end of February, but that puts him in a situation where any setback at all would cause him to not be ready for Opening Day. This tight schedule for a full recovery certainly explains why Jerry Dipoto stockpiled left-handed relievers like Robert Carson, Brian Moran and Clay Rapada this offseason.